It looks like you are using an ad blocker. That's okay. Who doesn't? But without advertising revenue, we can't keep making this site awesome. Click the link below for instructions on disabling adblock.
In IF3's film guide, they say that Ten and Two is Stept's "best urban ski movie to date", which is not a small claim. Mutiny was their best work to date, and I still believe it is after watching their new flick.
Don't get me wrong, Ten and Two is an excellent ski movie, one of the best I've ever seen. With the narration, something new for Stept, we're taken through the tales of their 2013-2014 season, documented with progressive skiing and superb cinematography. It's a different approach from Mutiny, which showed the raw truth of urban skiing.
The film starts off with a beautiful monologue about snow and the love-hate relationship the narrator has with her. He then tells us how he moved out west and traveled across the country when he was 15, he shares his vision on the American dream, and some more. The text was written by Tom Warnick (RIP), which makes it really special, and probably pretty emotional for the Stept guys. In-between the narration and some lifestyle footage, there's a short pow segment from the Martini brothers (I wish Nick Martini was still hitting urban), and two small urban segments, with the guys that didn't have enough footage for a full part (Dom Laporte, ABM, Noah Albaladejo, Cam Boll and Alex Gorham) and b-footage from Owens, Riley, Flynn and Jordan. Noah Albaladejo is really good, and just too smooth. I want to see a full part from him in the near future.
I feel like the first portion of the movie is a slightly bit too long, as we're twelve minutes in and no one's had a full part yet. But then Charlie Owens' part comes up, with the best display of skiing we've seen from him so far. He has one of my favorite styles, as he seeks perfection in everyone of his tricks. Hats off to him for that switch tails onto a long 6-kink c-rail (the one Sean Jordan hits in Weight), and his last trick, those are some real hammers. Oh and the whole weird vibe with him contemplating insects, I liked that.
Following his segment is a jump session, with some great in-air follow cams, and a standout performance by ABM.
Shea Flynn is next, who did a lot of tricks unnatural. He compiled his best ski footage yet, but I prefered the way his past two segments were put together, as both were pretty memorable. I spotted a couple of old pairs of K2's, which reminded me how unreal it is that he's now without a ski sponsor.
Sean Jordan kills, and he's the next skier up on the screen. This guy is tech, he pretzels really quick and he steps up to some big features. He has less footage than last year, but the quality is definitely there. I have to point out though that he did the same 450 on disaster on the same dub-kink than JF Houle in Turbo, 6 years ago... Nonetheless, his part is heavy, so is his last trick, which is IMO the most insane blind 4 ever done.
You've probably guessed it or you've already seen it: Cam Riley closes the movie. Everyone's familiar with how gnarly he is, but he just took it one step further. This is Cam's best segment to date, and in terms of high-consequence urban skiing, it is, to me, the best segment ever made. He also has a good variety of tricks, which may have lacked in his previous parts. He more than deserved his award for "Best Male Street Segment" at IF3. I'll watch that part over and over again.
Why do I prefer Mutiny over Ten and Two? Just the fact that Mutiny is more raw, it has a faster pace, and there's more skiing. But it's just a personal preference. I have to say I'm a bit sad that it's Stept's last annual ski film, as they've put out such good movies since Network. But at the same time, I'm sure these guys aren't done hitting urban.
Comments